Mike Martz told the truth: The Bears pulled quarterback Jay Cutler after only eight plays of their exhibition opener because the Chargers were blitzing. Since when can you tell the truth in Lovieland, the happiest place on Earth?

Moving right along, one thing I can’t understand is how players can work rigorously year-round to stay in shape, how teams can stage a series of mini-camps and offseason team activities that are mandatory despite the voluntary label, and everybody on the roster has played a lot of football, but yet, the idea of a blitz in an exhibition game becomes so scary and shocking that the star quarterback must be removed until the terror level is reduced to blue.

If there is hard talk of a two-game preseason, then part of the plan presumes a preparedness for all things football. That includes picking up the blitz.

Thing is, Cutler completed his two passes against blitzes. But then he got sacked on one play and ran out of bounds, and that was it.

Maybe it’s a question of the Bears practicing against the blitz during training camp. Practicing effectively, I should say.

Said Martz: “We're still kind of putting things in so when they are pressuring as much as they were in a preseason game, which is fine, everybody does that so it doesn't make any difference.’’

But apparently, it did make a difference, even though, again, we’re not talking about some newfangled football tactic. The Bears have seen this before, and maybe I’m wrong, but the blitz is also something they should’ve expected to see from the Chargers. The Chargers play a 3-4 defense. Blitzing is what that defense does. Did the Bears think the Chargers would count to three Mississippi before rushing the passer?

The bad news is, the Bears new offense didn't get the snaps it had hoped for. The good news is, Cutler is able to take snaps in this week’s game, something backup Caleb Hanie can’t say. I’m not sure if that validates the Bears’ in-game decision or indicts their offseason and preseason approach.

That's not a good sign. Martz's system is very complicated. They're going to have a lot of growing pains this year.

BOURBONNAIS -- Jay Cutler wound up completing 68 percent of his passes in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills during training camp.

The Tribune charted the quarterback throughout training camp to get a sense for how he was settling into Mike Martz's offense and to learn how the ball was being distributed.

Martz's offense demands accuracy with the quarterback often throwing the ball to a spot before the wide receiver has come open out of his break. Cutler completed 60.5 percent of his passes last season, his lowest figure in three full seasons starting. When the Greatest Show on Turf was clicking in St. Louis, Kurt Warner was completing more than 65 percent of his passes.

The charting project determined that Johnny Knox was the most popular wide receiver target based on time on the field and number of targets. He finished tied with Devin Aromashodu but Knox missed time this week with a sore hamstring. Knox, Aromashodu and tight end Greg Olsen were the most pooular deep targets.

John R. McCutchen / San Diego Union-Tribune
Chargers president Dean Spanos.
The important clams — those who make the Chargers’ snap judgments — aren’t opening up. It’s hard for us to digest a shell, but they think they have enough food in them to last the winter and be playing football as hearty mollusks well into January, at least.

Once training camp began, General Manager A.J. Smith proclaimed he was done talking about his two Pro Bowl holdouts, left tackle Marcus McNeill and receiver Vincent Jackson. Club President Dean Spanos, who has been known to chat during August, has declined interview requests.

Maybe later on, so I’m told.

We all realize this horse has been beaten well past its postmortem, but Spanos, who craves a championship and wants to get a new stadium built — which in this silly community would seem to require all the good will one could muster — has been known to step into these stalemates with both loafers. Didn’t he do so when the LaDainian Tomlinson pot began to boil over in 2008?

“That’s the perception,” says Smith, indicating it may not have been exactly the case. “You have to get that from Dean Spanos.”

OK. Oops.

“Well,” Smith says, “all I can tell you is that the four of us (Spanos, Smith, capologist Ed McGuire and head coach Norv Turner) are together on everything we do. I think Dean believes in me and lets me do my job, and I appreciate that.

“I don’t inform him of things we’ve done. Everything is discussed way in advance, and he asks a lot of questions. It’s not blind faith. Dean is very much involved; I feel like he’s a member of our staff. He knows me well. He knows my philosophy. He knows what I’m thinking. I have been to the principal’s office, you know. I’m not perfect. This is not my structure. This is Dean Spanos’ structure.”

I’m hardly a fence-sitter, but I can see both sides here. McNeill and Jackson want long-term deals and deserve them.

The Chargers, citing the uncertainty in handing out extended contracts with a possible lockout year looming in 2011, have offered them maximum one-year tenders of about $3.2 million, which means the players have declined $2.5 million raises while millions of people in this country are out of work.

I find it difficult to feel sorry for them.

They should have gotten their butts in here, signed their most generous tenders, and worked things out instead of letting down teammates.

I find it impossible to feel sorry for Spanos, but this is his club, his money, and he is far from being out of the loop.

He’s an active owner. But he should step in and end this stalemate — which obviously has his approval — because I don’t know if he can afford to be without two Pro Bowl players and hope to win a championship. It’s asking a hell of a lot.

The Spanos war chest is not going to be emptied if these guys are signed to long-term deals.

Even if there isn’t a season in 2011, the TV networks are obligated to give the NFL $4 billion.

Divide that by 32, and it’s $125 million per team without a ticket being sold. If the Chargers don’t have to pay out players’ salaries next year, that’s a tidy profit. No way could the team clear that much money if it sold out every game.

But these people still think they have enough to win without two of their stars, and while I have my doubts, I do believe they’re still talented enough to win the AFC West.

And that chip can win you the pot. Smith thinks it can happen.

“I think we’ve traveled that road — no matter who’s here and who isn’t,” he says. “Things happen. Contract disputes and injuries happen. You hold the fort. I think we’re a playoff-caliber team as we stand. If we get into the tournament, we have a chance to win the world championship. Any team that is a playoff team is a threat.

“Our struggles in the playoffs are well-documented and they’re valid. We’re trying to change that perception.”

Nothing seems to change the agents’ perception of Smith, who refuses to buckle, as he’s doing now with McNeill and Jackson’s mouthpieces.

“I know their world,” he says of the agents. “We pay people here. How many players have left here to make more money elsewhere? One would have, (guard Kris) Dielman, and it would have broken my heart.”

As for Turner, he sounds like a coach who has enough.

“People don’t believe or trust us, but we have guys ready to play in those spots, ready to play at a high level,” Turner says. “People are worried about the left tackle, but we have people who can play there. Our system allows us to help out. We have depth. We have a lot of good football players.”

The Vincent Jackson stalemate with the San Diego Chargers finally has some movement.

And it could include Jackson moving North.

Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports confirmed with a Seahawks team spokesman that Seattle has been given permission to talk contract terms with Jackson. According to Coles' sources, no significant progress has been made in contract talks since the Seahawks received permission in the past two weeks.

We're a little surprised the Seahawks admit the move publicly, especially after they weren't able to close the deal after flirting with Brandon Marshall earlier in the offseason. Cole reports that the Chargers seem intent on trading Jackson and his deep skills would perfectly fill one of Seattle's biggest needs.

It's unclear what the Chargers want in return for Jackson. Marshall's price -- a pair of second round picks -- would make sense to us.

BOURBONNAIS -- Jay Cutler wound up completing 68 percent of his passes in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills during training camp.

The Tribune charted the quarterback throughout training camp to get a sense for how he was settling into Mike Martz's offense and to learn how the ball was being distributed.

Martz's offense demands accuracy with the quarterback often throwing the ball to a spot before the wide receiver has come open out of his break. Cutler completed 60.5 percent of his passes last season, his lowest figure in three full seasons starting. When the Greatest Show on Turf was clicking in St. Louis, Kurt Warner was completing more than 65 percent of his passes.

The charting project determined that Johnny Knox was the most popular wide receiver target based on time on the field and number of targets. He finished tied with Devin Aromashodu but Knox missed time this week with a sore hamstring. Knox, Aromashodu and tight end Greg Olsen were the most pooular deep targets.

The Vincent Jackson stalemate with the San Diego Chargers finally has some movement.

And it could include Jackson moving North.

Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports confirmed with a Seahawks team spokesman that Seattle has been given permission to talk contract terms with Jackson. According to Coles' sources, no significant progress has been made in contract talks since the Seahawks received permission in the past two weeks.

We're a little surprised the Seahawks admit the move publicly, especially after they weren't able to close the deal after flirting with Brandon Marshall earlier in the offseason. Cole reports that the Chargers seem intent on trading Jackson and his deep skills would perfectly fill one of Seattle's biggest needs.

It's unclear what the Chargers want in return for Jackson. Marshall's price -- a pair of second round picks -- would make sense to us.

AJ Smith is the man if he can snake a couple of 2nd round picks from Seattle for Mr. DUI.

I still hate to see him go though. He is a legitimate stud WR and just like the Seahawks, the Chargers have been searching for that for a LONG time. They finally groom a guy into one but his off the field issues and lack of maturity make it very risky to sign him to a huge contract. Funny how it's like a Brandon Marshall situation all over again in the AFC West.

ATLANTA (AP)—It was a short little pass over the middle, nothing special.

Try telling that to the New England Patriots.

Wes Welker(notes) was back just seven months after tearing up his left knee, and Tom Brady(notes) wasted no time going to his favorite receiver in a 28-10 preseason victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night.

On New England’s second offensive play, Brady zipped a 6-yard pass to Welker. On the next play, they hooked up on a 14-yard completion. A third straight pass toward Welker was broken up by the Falcons, but the message was clear.

The NFL’s most prolific pass-catcher over the last three years is back.

“Getting out there catching balls and getting hit was good,” said Welker, who has 346 catches during that span but was injured in January during the regular-season finale. “It’s a step forward. I’m not sure I’m all there yet.”

Brady threw for a touchdown, Fred Taylor(notes) ran for a score and the Patriots (2-0) cruised past a team that still has some work to do on defense.

Atlanta (1-1) has plenty of weapons on offense, but upgrading the defense is considered the key to challenging Super Bowl champion New Orleans in the NFC South.

The most glaring shortcoming for the Falcons was their inability to get off the field on third down. The Patriots were 11 of 17 in those situations, including a pair of third-and-7 conversions on their opening possession.

But he wasn’t real happy with any phase of his team. The first-team offense twice stalled in New England territory and had to settle for field-goal attempts, and Matt Bryant(notes) missed one of those. A disputed roughing-the-kicker penalty gave the Patriots a second-chance touchdown.

“I know it’s only the preseason, but we didn’t play as well as we need to in all three phases,” Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

New England reached the end zone on two of its three possessions with the first-team offense. Taylor scored on a 28-yard run, and Brady passed 4 yards to Aaron Hernandez(notes) for a touchdown that finished off a 10-for-12, 85-yard performance.

The Patriots seemed to get the most benefit from traveling south early to hold a couple of joint practices with the Falcons.

“It was a good trip,” coach Bill Belichick said. “We played well as a team.”

Cornerback Dunta Robinson(notes), Atlanta’s big free-agent acquisition, missed his second straight preseason game with an ailing hamstring. Two other potential defensive starters, cornerback Brian Wilson and tackle Peria Jerry(notes), also sat out. All are expected to return for next week’s game at Miami.

“It will be nice to see a full complement of players out there,” Smith said.

Brady’s one miscue was a double-pump that allowed Kroy Biermann(notes) to deliver jarring hit, knocking the ball loose. New England recovered, and the offense got another shot when Chevis Jackson(notes) was penalized for knocking down Stephen Gostkowski(notes) on a 41-yard field goal attempt that was wide right.

Jackson dove for the block and came up short of the kicker, who then fell over the Atlanta player while he was sprawled on the Georgia Dome turf. Smith screamed in protest that Gostkowski was acting, then watched Brady go back to work.

Three plays later, he fired a pass that got Falcons rookie linebacker Sean Weatherspoon(notes) all turned around, allowing Hernandez to make the catch in the back of the end zone while the first-round pick was looking the wrong way.

At least Weatherspoon didn’t look as bad as Thomas DeCoud(notes), who came up to make a hit on Taylor and was instead sent flying by 296-pound teammate Jonathan Babineaux(notes), trying to assist on the tackle. Taylor bounced outside and went untouched the rest of the way for New England’s first touchdown.

Matt Ryan(notes) and the Atlanta offense did some good things on his three possessions, driving twice into New England territory. Both resulted in field goal attempts, leaving the first-teamers still seeking their first TD of the preseason.

Ryan said he’s not concerned.

“We don’t gameplan a lot for these games,” he said. “We’re just trying to improve on some different things, see what we like and don’t like and what we want to take into the regular season.”

Bryant kicked a 46-yard field goal that gave the Falcons a short-lived lead, but missed from 47.

Ryan was 8 of 13 for 76 yards before giving way to John Parker Wilson(notes), who played all but the final possession. The third-stringer accounted for Atlanta’s lone TD on a late 19-yard pass to Troy Bergeron(notes) after most of the crowd had left.

New England backup Brian Hoyer(notes) directed a couple of scoring drives in the second half. Sammy Morris(notes) scored on a 20-yard run and Rob Gronkowski(notes) hauled in a 24-yard TD pass.

NOTES: Atlanta rookie DT Corey Peters(notes) went out with a knee injury. Smith said he didn’t know if it was serious. … Falcons WR Harry Douglas(notes) played for the first since sustaining a knee injury in training camp a year ago. He had two catches for 13 yards. … Hoyer was 8 of 15 for 94 yards.

Source: Vikings to sign Javon Walker
Less than a week after former Packers quarterback Brett Favre decided to return for another season in Minnesota, the Vikings are planning on signing former Packers wide receiver Javon Walker on Monday, a source close to the situation told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.
Walker experienced his greatest success with Favre as his quarterback and Minnesota is hoping for more of the same.
Walker, whose only Pro Bowl season came in 2004 with the Packers when Favre was his quarterback, hasn't had a 1,000-yard receiving season since 2006 when he was with the Denver Broncos.
Walker, however, clashed with Favre before he left the Packers in a trade after the 2005 season. Favre torched Walker for skipping the Green Bay Packers' 2005 minicamp. Walker was seeking a new contract at the time.
A year later, Walker asked the Packers to trade him in part because of Favre's comments. The Broncos acquired Walker from Green Bay for a second-round pick in the 2006 draft.
Denver cut Walker after the 2007 season because he had major problems with his knees and lost his ability to separate from defenders. The Oakland Raiders, however, gave him a six-year, $55 million deal with $16 million in guaranteed money.
Oakland released Walker this offseason after two unproductive seasons with the team.Adam Schefter is ESPN's NFL Insider. ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert and Bill Williamson contributed to this report.

Sidney Rice's hip injury may wind up damaging the Vikings season more than any quarterback-coach schism.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported early Tuesday morning via Twitter that there is a "very good chance" Rice could soon undergo hip surgery. The Vikings wideout has reportedly been Vail, Colorado this week at the Steadman Clinic to have his hip examined. Rice could miss half the season if he decides to undergo the procedure.

The timing of the possible surgery has to drive the Vikings crazy. Rice practiced despite the injury throughout the offseason and said as recently as July 8 that he'd be "ready to go" at training camp.

Instead, Brett Favre's favorite target has quietly stayed on the physically unable to perform list while rumors swirled that his absence could partially be due to his contract situation.

Three Players WaivedAugust 23rd, 2010 - 4:05pm by Eric Detweiler
The Broncos trimmed their roster Monday when they waived Toney Baker, Kirk Barton and Patrick Carter.
Baker signed with the team in April as a college free agent out of N.C. State. The running back registered a pair of special teams tackles in the preseason opener at Cincinnati but did not have a carry in either of the first two preseason contests.
The team was awarded Barton, an offensive lineman, off waivers from Detroit on July 7.
Carter, a wide receiver, joined the squad on August 5. He did not record a catch in either preseason game.
- Eric Detweiler, DenverBroncos.com

Brandon Marshall is still a beast. I am watching the replay of the Jags/Phins game. Brandon Marshall didn't start off too fast, but he's been making plenty of plays. So far he is responsible for three TDs and he didn't catch any of them. The first one, he ran a deep out and was ahead of his guy by a few steps, Henne took the safe route and hit the receiver crossing the middle, running toward BMarsh. BMarsh proceeded to lock his guy down and picked up a second guy in the process, Fassano ran in for a 50 yard TD untouched.

The second TD Marshall was merely a decoy drawining the coverage away from the middle of the field. As Henne looked toward Marshall, the safety covering the TE left the TE for Marshall giving Henne a decent window to throw.

The third TD was to Ronnie Brown, once again Brandon Marshall was downfield blocking two guys giving Brown a seam to get into the endzone.

Receiving- He has been hot, especially in the 2nd quarter. He had one easy drop that flew right through his hands. Probably as bad as the 2nd drop he had last week. The rest of the time he has caught the ball and he has yet to go down on first contact. He probably has 25 yards after the catch at this point and most of that yardage is from catching the ball, stopping on a dime and then making a guy or two miss. Very similar to what we're accustomed to seeing him BMarsh.

I don't miss his antics and the constant worries over his off field issues, but I sure do love watching this kid play. He's fun!

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:00:46 -0400 Cleveland Browns QB Colt McCoy could need a strong showing in the team's last two preseason games in order to secure a roster spot, according to Tony Grossi, of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Campbell, Wimbley lead Raiders past Bears
CHICAGO -- Oakland reserve linebacker Slade Norris recovered a muffed punt in the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown and later blocked a punt for a safety Saturday night, leading the Raiders to a 32-17 preseason victory over the Chicago Bears.
Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, who missed all but one game last season after hurting his wrist in the season opener, injured his calf on the opening drive and did not return.
Starting quarterbacks Jason Campbell of the Raiders (2-0) and Jay Cutler of the Bears (0-2) both played the first half in the game at Soldier Field.
Campbell was 10-for-20 for 170 yards with a short TD run and an interception. Cutler completed 7 of 15 for 99 yards with a 22-yard TD pass to Johnny Knox and was sacked five times -- four of them credited to Raiders' linebacker Kamerion Wimbley.

Campbell, Wimbley lead Raiders past Bears
CHICAGO -- Oakland reserve linebacker Slade Norris recovered a muffed punt in the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown and later blocked a punt for a safety Saturday night, leading the Raiders to a 32-17 preseason victory over the Chicago Bears.
Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, who missed all but one game last season after hurting his wrist in the season opener, injured his calf on the opening drive and did not return.
Starting quarterbacks Jason Campbell of the Raiders (2-0) and Jay Cutler of the Bears (0-2) both played the first half in the game at Soldier Field.
Campbell was 10-for-20 for 170 yards with a short TD run and an interception. Cutler completed 7 of 15 for 99 yards with a 22-yard TD pass to Johnny Knox and was sacked five times -- four of them credited to Raiders' linebacker Kamerion Wimbley.

Cutlers lone TD came on a busted play when their terrible OL broke down and he had to scramble. Last year that would have been a sure pick but he found some space to work and the WR's didn't stop on him this time and Knox got free in the back of the endzone for a great play. Cutler should have been sacked more than those 5 times but he was able to get the ball out or escape the pressure.

Anyone else notice this year Cutler seems to have a bigger/lower windup on the deeper passes? I was going to compare it to a Bronco DVD but I decided changing my 2 year olds dump was more important and fun.

I think this year is turning point for the Raiders... I believe they might have an outside chance to compete for 6 wins in a season for the first time since 2002.

BTW, the biggest excuse for Jason Campbell was always that he changed O-coordinator 6 times in the last 6 season. Well, guess what?, this year he just got a new O-coordinator (probably a less qualified one) and I'll bet anyone he will have a new one next year (if not midway through this season)